After roughly eight years as the owner of Edgecomb’s Glidden Point Oyster Farms, Ryan McPherson is planning some changes to the property at 637 River Road.
McPherson went before the Edgecomb Planning Board the evening of Thursday, Jan. 2 for a site plan review for the development of an oyster processing barn.
During the meeting, McPherson said the processing barn will help the business remain in compliance with Maine Department of Marine Resources regulations that aim to keep consumers safe by preventing the growth of bacterial pathogens resulting from improper cooling techniques.
“We have to get our oysters to temperature in a certain amount of time now,” he said. “The main piece is to get them as cold as possible as soon as possible.”
While the current site plan only includes the oyster processing barn, McPherson’s plan for the property also includes an oyster gear maintenance and storage barn. McPherson said he will get approval from the planning board to build the second barn when the project gets to that point. However, planning board Chair Rebecca Graham told McPherson he can submit a sketch of the gear barn with the current plan for approval, and if it is not built in a timely fashion, he can come back to the board and get it reapproved.
“If you don’t get it done within that period, at least we can look back at that and say, ‘OK, it was approved, it just didn’t get built,’” Graham said.
According to a Nov. 6 letter written by William Joyce, principal of Carson Douglas Landscape Architecture, on behalf of McPherson, the proposed development is planned to take place in two or three phases that will ultimately “expand the infrastructure of the current marine use programming and aligns with local zoning and setback regulations.”
Phase one will include demolition of the existing farmhouse on the property, as well as earthwork and construction of stairs, a new 28-space parking lot, and retaining walls. Phase two will involve the construction of the oyster-processing barn and the oyster gear maintenance and storage barn.
Additionally, a T-turn around at the property’s current farmhouse and road turnouts at two locations along the driveway of the site will be developed, as they were requested by Edgecomb Fire Chief Roy Potter and are consistent with state standards, Joyce said in the Nov. 6 letter.
Following the review, the planning board requested more precise measurements of proposed structures, namely the buildings and retaining walls, and their distances from setbacks – property lines, roads, water bodies, and other boundaries – on the property.
The Edgecomb Planning Board will hold a site walk at the property on Saturday, Jan. 25 at 11 a.m. McPherson will present any additions to his application to the board during the site walk.
The next meeting of the Edgecomb Planning Board is at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 16 at the town hall, at 32 Lily Pond Road. For more information, call the town hall at 882-7018 or email planningboard@edgecomb.org.
